Thus far in our examination of Hebrews 6:4-6 we have determined that those,
1) Who were once enlighten
2) Who have tasted the heavenly gift
3) Who have become partakers of the Holy Spirit
4) Who have tasted the good word of God
5) Who have tasted the powers of the age to come
…Were in fact those who were truly consecrated believers, i.e. those who had entered into covenant relationship with the Father by sacrifice (Psa 50:5; Rom 12:1) who were fully justified from all things, and begotten to a new nature through the Holy Spirit. Therefore our texts could have nothing whatsoever to do with either the worldly or the mere professing Christian, the unconsecrated.
Let us continue.
“For it is impossible for THESE who were once enlighten and who have tasted the heavenly gift and who have become partakers of the Holy Spirit and who have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they FALL AWAY to renew THEM again unto repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put him to an open shame.”
First of all, let us all apply our God given ability to reason, and establish one for certain fact, to which all must agree; NO ONE could FALL, lest at first they had been previously LIFTED UP, and in order to be lifted up from the mire of sin and death (i.e. justified from the original condemnation which is upon all men, the Adamic curse) one must have at first believed in the forgiveness of sins which comes through Jesus Christ our Lord, for as the scriptures so state, we are justified by our faith (Rom 5:1) Those who possess no faith (the heathen, the non-believer) could not fall from that which they had never been lifted up to in the first place.
So what does this statement, “if they shall fall away” imply in respects to those with whom we have been discussing?
Why can’t they be renewed again?
And what does crucifying again the Son of God imply? How does this bring shame to him?
The falling away of such, the Apostle says, would mean that they could never be renewed again.
Why?
Because they have had their share of the blessing of Christ, Christ's death was to bring a blessing--and only one-- to every individual member of Adam's race--one full blessing, a complete blessing, such a blessing as will enable every member of the race--if he will, when he understands it, to come fully and completely into harmony with God and thus to have eternal life.
But after he has received his full blessing and then has rejected it, there is no hope in his case. He can never justify himself. He has had the merit of Christ (justification) and has repudiated it. There is no hope of renewing such a one, says the Apostle. The fate of such would not, of course, be eternal torment, but rather eternal destruction', extinction of being--the Second Death.
In Heb 10:26-29 the apostle explains the matter further,
First of all note closely from the preceding verses exactly to whom the Apostle was here addressing, (Verses 19 and 20), he was specifically addressing those brethren who had come into the body through a “new and living way” which our Lord had consecrated for us, a way into the “Holy” as prospective members of the antitypical High Priest, i.e. the Royal Priesthood. Speaking to these he states thusly,
“For if WE sin willfully after WE have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation (eternal destruction) which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot (insulted, brought to shame), counting the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing (through open sin or denial of the value of the “blood of the covenant” whereby he was redeemed, as picture in the wedding guest who did not have on a wedding garment, i.e. the robe of Christ righteousness as a covering for his sins, Matt 22:11), and insulted the Spirit of grace (the spirit of truth)?”
Now the question may still linger in some minds as to,
What exactly constitutes “the knowledge of the truth”, and thus upon denial of this truth, what constitutes the sin unto death?
Is it possible for any except the spirit-begotten to commit the sin unto death?
We will deal with this in our next post.
1) Who were once enlighten
2) Who have tasted the heavenly gift
3) Who have become partakers of the Holy Spirit
4) Who have tasted the good word of God
5) Who have tasted the powers of the age to come
…Were in fact those who were truly consecrated believers, i.e. those who had entered into covenant relationship with the Father by sacrifice (Psa 50:5; Rom 12:1) who were fully justified from all things, and begotten to a new nature through the Holy Spirit. Therefore our texts could have nothing whatsoever to do with either the worldly or the mere professing Christian, the unconsecrated.
Let us continue.
“For it is impossible for THESE who were once enlighten and who have tasted the heavenly gift and who have become partakers of the Holy Spirit and who have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they FALL AWAY to renew THEM again unto repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put him to an open shame.”
First of all, let us all apply our God given ability to reason, and establish one for certain fact, to which all must agree; NO ONE could FALL, lest at first they had been previously LIFTED UP, and in order to be lifted up from the mire of sin and death (i.e. justified from the original condemnation which is upon all men, the Adamic curse) one must have at first believed in the forgiveness of sins which comes through Jesus Christ our Lord, for as the scriptures so state, we are justified by our faith (Rom 5:1) Those who possess no faith (the heathen, the non-believer) could not fall from that which they had never been lifted up to in the first place.
So what does this statement, “if they shall fall away” imply in respects to those with whom we have been discussing?
Why can’t they be renewed again?
And what does crucifying again the Son of God imply? How does this bring shame to him?
The falling away of such, the Apostle says, would mean that they could never be renewed again.
Why?
Because they have had their share of the blessing of Christ, Christ's death was to bring a blessing--and only one-- to every individual member of Adam's race--one full blessing, a complete blessing, such a blessing as will enable every member of the race--if he will, when he understands it, to come fully and completely into harmony with God and thus to have eternal life.
But after he has received his full blessing and then has rejected it, there is no hope in his case. He can never justify himself. He has had the merit of Christ (justification) and has repudiated it. There is no hope of renewing such a one, says the Apostle. The fate of such would not, of course, be eternal torment, but rather eternal destruction', extinction of being--the Second Death.
In Heb 10:26-29 the apostle explains the matter further,
First of all note closely from the preceding verses exactly to whom the Apostle was here addressing, (Verses 19 and 20), he was specifically addressing those brethren who had come into the body through a “new and living way” which our Lord had consecrated for us, a way into the “Holy” as prospective members of the antitypical High Priest, i.e. the Royal Priesthood. Speaking to these he states thusly,
“For if WE sin willfully after WE have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation (eternal destruction) which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot (insulted, brought to shame), counting the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing (through open sin or denial of the value of the “blood of the covenant” whereby he was redeemed, as picture in the wedding guest who did not have on a wedding garment, i.e. the robe of Christ righteousness as a covering for his sins, Matt 22:11), and insulted the Spirit of grace (the spirit of truth)?”
Now the question may still linger in some minds as to,
What exactly constitutes “the knowledge of the truth”, and thus upon denial of this truth, what constitutes the sin unto death?
Is it possible for any except the spirit-begotten to commit the sin unto death?
We will deal with this in our next post.
